Jason looks around sheepishly, “Uh, I actually thought of something while you explained that all. Just need to nip back over to the guild because I have someone to add to the party.”
Courtney looks at him with an eyebrow raised, “and when were you planning on telling us this? Besides that who is it in the first place. We haven’t seen you with anyone while you were here and while you can remove someone without them around the same isn’t true for joining a party.”
Jason turns to Rosha. At some point in the mini lecture Lily had gotten out of the harness and was now being petted. He gestures at them, “Lily there is actually a companion and not a pet. I need to add her to the party so I can distribute some of my experience towards her. I suspect outside interference caused it to turn out this way. My best guess comes from what I learned about the rabbit plains and then experienced at the last town I was in. Verbal clues the people in Wasteland’s Edge dropped lead me to believe the rumors of a rabbit queen are true in some form. Whoever that being is set up the situation either from the start or after Lily ended up in my lap when I was cultivating there.”
Rosha continues to cuddle Lily though she glares up at Jason. “How dare you not introduce her to use right from the start. After all you’re the cutest wittle wabbit aren’t you Lily? Oh yes you are, yes you are!” Lily leans in to the well-placed scritches. Courtney sighs, “welp she will be useless for a good while so you might as well get to it. There’s a reason she chose to be a rabbitkin.”
Jason and the group all head back over the guild though this time the line is much shorter than the first time through. The whole room is actually much emptier now. One adventurer in the next line over notices his glance around and laughs. The bearkin goes to slap Jason’s shoulder but at the last minute stops himself and turns it into a gentle pat. With a grin that shows way to many teeth he explains that, “since the caravans leave early all the good quests are out early. You just caught up in the rush and if you give it another half hour for the lines to clear the guild will be practically dead.” Jason thanks the man and settles in for his wait.
The actual task to get Lily added to the party takes longer than he expected. Though this is mostly because she isn’t quite sentient enough for the System to give her prompts about this kind of thing yet. In the end he had to go with her being a temporary addition. The paperwork for it was actually what parents had to fill out when they wanted to do NeoRealm’s equivalent to take your kids to work day. This was oddly appropriate as far as Jason was concerned and it was enough to let him adjust his experience share with Lily so mission accomplished. The only catch is once Lily is aware enough to answer prompts they have to visit the guild again add her. If they don’t, the System will remove her from the team if they had the chance to complete things.
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Jason thanks the receptionist and heads back to the other three. Courtney stands over the other two who have at some point decided to just sit on the floor and cuddle. Jason had not worried if they would accept Lily but this was going a little far. Courtney shrugs, “She’s always loved rabbits but her parents would not let her have any as pets. Fair enough to them, their house was a bit fancy to have pets in it. Still, they should have let her go to the petting zoo more often. Anyway, she has had enough time and Lily isn’t exactly leaving us. Just let me get her moving and we can head out, finally.”
Courtney crouches down next to Rosha and whispers to her, “time to head out Ray... Rosha. I’m sure Jason won't mind you holding her while we are on the main roads.” Rosha just cuddles Lily tighter. “It is very cute that you both have matching colors but Jason might feel nervous letting you hold her if you can’t pay attention to your surroundings. You wouldn’t want Lily to be hurt by your inattention now would you?”
Rosha looks up with tears in her eyes, “But it's a bunny! Look at her cute little paws and her boopable snoot! Ever since I turned 12, my father wouldn’t let me go see the reals ones anymore.” Courtney smacks the back of her head, “Stop the play acting. Jason is looking nervous over there. I don’t mind playing along a little bit but your just making him uncomfortable now.”
Rosha rolls her eyes and stands up. “Fine, ruin my fun then. Let’s head out and get on the road.” She leaves with Lily cuddled in her arms. Courtney follows her but Jason is frozen on the spot. It takes a moment for the events to parse through his head but once it does he sighs. As he rushes to catch up to them, he can only wonder to himself what he has gotten into.
Back with the group Jason takes out the last few of the original batch of energy berries. As he hands them to Rosha he tells her, “here, you can feed Lily breakfast while we are leaving the town. While I can agree with you holding her as we travel the main roads I got this protective harness for a reason.” Rosha pouts a bit but gives in after Courtney punches her shoulder. She rolls her eyes, “fine, I don’t want her to get hurt anyway. However can I wear it instead?” Rosha is quick to backpedal on that though with just a glare from Courtney and Jason. This doesn’t stop her from complaining as they exit the town and travel down the road.
Of the four, only Lily was having a very good day so far. After all, this new lady knew just the right places to scratch!